Underwear.



R. S. OOQPER. UNDERWEAR. APPLICATION FILED 811M213, 1911.

1, 1 O6, 1 33. Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

2 SHEETS SHEET 1.

R. S. COOPER.

UNDERWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1911.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

2 BHBETSSHEET'2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT S. COOPER, 0F KENOSHA. WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO I HENRY S. COOPER AND HORACE 'G. JOHNSON, BOTH OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN.

UNDERWEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnnr S. COOPER, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Kenosha, Kenosha county, Wisconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement is Underwear, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to union suit underwear of the kind in which a permanently closed crotch is employed. In a union suit of this kind, made of knitted fabric, the front opening has extended downward to a point 5' short distance above the crotch, leaving an integral or uncut portion of the fabric between the crotch and the lower end of said opening. \Vith this integral or uncut portion of the fabric, it was difficult to complete the Work at the lower end of sa d front opening, as it was necessary to do this in a manner that involved an extra or special operation. Thus the cost of manufacture was increased, as the special operation, which was necessary in finishing t 1e lower end of the front opening, involved more time and labor.

The object of my invention is, therefore, to provide a process of manufacture and a construction of such character that a garment of this kind, having a permenently closed crotch, may be made without the necessity of employing extra or special operations 1n finishing off the lower end of the front opening, and whereby the work may be completed by one operation on a sewing machine, in a convenient and satisfactory manner, thus reducing the cost of manufacture, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

To these and other useful ends, my invention consists in finatttrs hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a view showing the usual knittedtpbe or cylinder from which the body or the sfiit of union underwear is fashioned or made. Fig. 2 shows the tube oi -cylinder cut and shaped for sewing. Fig. 3 is a front view of the finished suit of underwear. Fig. 4 is an enlarged and fragmentary perspective View of the lowel end portion 0 the front opening, showing the opening unbuitoned. Fig. 5 is a similar view, but showing the appearance of the parts before the final stitching is done. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the portion shown in Fig. 4, showing the opening buttoned up.

it is common to .As thus illustrated, my or'method of making the wear embodyin the principles of my inyentlon is as fo lows: First, a tube or cylinder of fabric is knitted, as shown in Fig. 1. Then the said tube is split or cut at. the bottom, to provide legs 11, as shown in Fig. 2; the top is cut out in the usual manner for the neck, and the arm holes are made; and the front is cut or slit vertically from the neck to the crotch, so that the whole front of the tube is open. This vertical slit or cut 2 does not, it will be seen, terminate short of the crotch, but instead extends into the cut made for the logs. After this, the inner edges of the portions 1 are sewed or stitched to form the logs; the arms are sewed in, the other portions com pleted, and the neck finished, in the manner shown in Fig. 3. In a garment of this kind provide a posterior opening, of'suitable character, and in this connection a crotch gusset or gore 3 is ordinarily sewed in place in the well known manner. If a flap is provided for the posterior opening, the portion 3 may be an integral portion of said flap. This results in a seam 4 which runs across the front of the crotch and down each leg until it joins the in-seam thereof. The vertical portion 5 at one side of the opening 2 is provided on both surfaces with a facing 6 of suitable cloth, and the buttons 7 are sewed in place thereon. The portion 8 at the other side of said opening is provided with a wide facing 9 on only the inner surface thereof, and with the usual button-holes 10. In each case the facing is sewed in place by sewing or stitching it on a sewing machine. The lower ends of the portions 5 and 8, and the facing thereof, are

improved process union suit underunited at the seam 4, on a. sewing machine,

and are also sewed together at a point a short distance above the said seam, as by a short line of stitchingll. If desired, this stitching 111 may be omitted, although by its use the seam t' -is relieved of some strain, and the garment rendered stronger. This is all straight work and can be done easily on a sewing machine. The ortions 5 and 8 lap suiliciently to bring the buttons into line with the button-holes. Thus a union suit is made with a permanently closed crotch, without the necessity of employing any extra or special operations in finishing off the lower end of the front opening,. as

was formally the case When the slit 2 made in the tube of knitted fabric was made to terminate short of the seam t in the crotch. In this Waythe cost of manufacture is re 5 duced, and the article itself rendered stronger and more satisfactory in character. When the garment is made of knitted fabric, as shown, a button stay is inclosed in the facing, in the usual and Well known manner. This button stay is, however, like the facing and fabric, terminated and fastenedin place in the seam 4, so that no extra operation is required in completing the Work at the lower end of the front opening.

This is largely by reason of the fact that the stitching by Wh'ichthe facing is secured along the edges of the front opening can be carried through to the lower edges of the fabric-that is to say, to the edges-that are joinedto the crotch at the seami, in the manner explained. Previously, this stitching was carried down to a certain point, but from there down another and special operation on a sewing machine Was necessary.

WVith my improved process, however, this extra operation is eliminated, and the facing is secured in place by one continuous sewing operation.

By a permanently closed crotch, 'I mean one in which the crotch is entirely closed, or

substantially so, throughout the area there of, at both front and rear of the garment.

What I claim as my invention 1s:

An undergarment having both legs permanently united to each other through the 5 crotch by a gorepiece or gusset insert extending uninterruptedly from leg to-jleg through the crotch, the front edge of which gorepiece is joined to the front of the body of the garment by a sewed seam which extends continuously Without interruption from the inside of one leg up across the front of the crotch region and down the in side of the other leg, and said garment provided with front fly members, having fin-- ished edges, and extending from the upper part of the garment down to the front edge of said gorepiec'e, the lower ends of said fly members being overlapped at the front edge of the gorepiece and sewed thereto by, and Within, the same uninterrupted seam Which unites said gorepieee to the body across the front crotch region.

Signed by me at Kenosha, Visconsin, this 5th day of September, 1911,

ROBERT S. COOPER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of la'centa. Washington, D. G. 

